Railroad cars are widely used in the United States and other countries to transport vehicles such as automobiles and trucks from manufacturing plants to distribution centers. Such railroad cars are referred to in the trade as auto rack cars.
The railroad cars include a first deck or floor and a pair of side walls which, if desired, support at least one, and often two, elevated decks. Additionally, a roof is generally included to protect the vehicles against damage. The decks carry lined-up, tied down vehicles.
Blunden U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,704 discloses a triple deck open topped railroad car for carrying vehicles. Each side of the car has a plurality of vertically positioned horizontally spaced apart columns or uprights which are joined to the lower deck side sills. These columns support the elevated second and third decks. The columns can also support wall panels to protect the vehicles against vandalism.
In many vehicle-carrying railroad cars, including the car disclosed in Blunden U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,704, the ends of the first deck are higher because the draft sill of the underframe is raised to meet the common coupling requirements with adjacent rail cars in a train. This reduces the vertical clearance between the ends of the first and second decks to an extent which prevents many vehicles from passing through. To provide the required clearance it has been found necessary to hingedly mount the end sections of the second deck so that they can be rotated upwardly a short distance to thereby obtain the necessary vertical clearance between the ends of the first and second decks. Blunden U.S. Pat. No. 3,426,704 discloses a car with such hinged deck sections.
The hinged deck sections are generally counterbalanced so as to be held in raised position. They are pulled down manually to abut a horizontal position when the second deck is to be loaded with vehicles. Stop means limits vertical upward and downward displacement of the hinged deck sections. However, for safety reasons and efficient loading of the second deck, it is conventional to lock the deck sections in place when in either of the stated positions. A locking device in use for this purpose comprises a rod or pin which is removably inserted in a hole in a locking plate on the car wall. Because of wear on the pin and the hole wall during car use excessive clearance develops which permits the deck sections to vibrate and shake, thereby inducing further rapid wear of the locking device. Because of this, a need exists for an improved locking device which will secure the hinged deck sections in place, minimize wear and adjust to wear which occurs so as to maintain a tight locking condition.